Mobile devices having tethering capabilities are common in today's device landscape. As third party applications for such mobile devices continue to advance, turning a mobile device into a mobile hotspot has become considerably easier. Several third party applications for mobile devices now allow consumers to piggy back data plans, designed for smart phone use, to create a mobile hotspot for use by other devices such as laptops and tablets. However, the data consumption profile of mobile devices used as unauthorized mobile hotspots results in significant carrier revenue leakage from the loss of authorized hotspot service revenue. Revenue leakage is especially pronounced where unauthorized tethered connections are used on mobile devices having unlimited or high-tiered data plans targeted for smartphone-only data usage. In addition, unauthorized usage of mobile devices as mobile hotspots makes it difficult for enterprises to manage their costs for data usage across their mobile device inventory.